PositiveThe Times Literary Supplement (UK)The logistical minutiae of drug-taking have always been exceedingly boring ... As for drug-fuelled escapades, these are invariably funnier in the recollection than in the retelling. Mercifully, Will isn’t really that kind of memoir: Self relates his adventures in the narcotic wilderness – encompassing amphetamines, cocaine and, most notably, heroin – with a certain clinical detachment...There are occasional moments of earnest candour...but the prevailing tone is sardonic ... The young drug fiend endures a succession of calamities ... These sections are as colourful as you’d expect, but it’s the quotidian details of domestic and familial life that really catch the eye ... Self’s ruminations on class are among the most compelling passages in the book, evincing that contrary blend of snobbish and egalitarian sentiments that is the quintessence of the English middle classes ... Self is never happier than when frolicking in the hinterland between sincerity and performative, winking hyperbole. There is a pantomimic quality to his prose, deployed to a variety of effects ... On still other occasions it is gratuitous, apparently designed solely to prevent your attention from drifting – rather like a children’s party entertainer addressing himself to a roomful of five-year-olds ... There is a refreshing lack of contrition in these pages, soaked as they are in the hubristic folly of youth.
